Human Trafficking Warrior Honored

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has honored a female miner in the South American country of Guyana for helping fight human trafficking.

Simona Broomes regularly travels to gold and diamond mining camps to rescue underage girls working as prostitutes. The 43-year-old mother of three is also president of the Guyana Women Miners Organization, one of few such organizations in the world.

The U.S. Embassy noted this week that Broomes takes great personal risk to help victims.

Broomes told The Associated Press that she recently began carrying a gun after she was assaulted during one of her trips earlier this year. She says she began organizing barbecues to help raise money to pay for her trips after death threats forced her to close her mining equipment business.

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